1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to devices to induce a massaging motion over a certain area of the patient's body. In particular, the device of the present invention relates to back massagers of the type simulating the long stroke massaging motions given by a professional massage therapist.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The word "massage" generally describes a variety of motions over the patient's body such as rubbing over the skin, rumpling the muscles, slapping or rapping and pressing over various portions of the patient's body so as to eliminate venous congestion, to stimulate arterial circulation, and to intensify metabolism in various tissues. Although a massage can be performed manually by another person, various devices have been described in the prior art that would be either of assistance to the person performing a massage or allow the patient to induce a massage onto himself without the help of others. Specifically, such devices have been proposed for the massage of the patient's back.
The area of the patient's back presents a special interest for a massaging therapy. Complains of a "back pain", especially in the lumbar region, are quite common. In fact, in some cases they can cause severe pains and even become debilitating. It is believed that periodic applications of a massaging therapy can stimulate more blood to flow to these areas and therefore relieve these symptoms. On the other hand, as opposed to other portions of the body, the back is difficult to reach for the patient himself. Therefore, there is a need for either professional assistance or an apparatus allowing the patient to apply a massage to the back of the body.
A large variety of massagers and massaging devices have been proposed for these purposes. They generally can be divided into two groups. The first one consists of small hand-held devices inducing high frequency vibrations over a limited area of the skin. Although inexpensive and portable, these devices do not allow for a deep massage of the tissue such as what can be given by a professional massage therapist. The second group consists of rather complex back massage devices typically incorporated in a piece of furniture such as a chair or a bed.
Various chair-type massaging devices are suggested in U.S. Pat. No. 5,348,529 by Veltri, U.S. Pat. No. 5,233,973 by Gill, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,020,518 by Spears. These devices of various levels of complexity are typically incorporated in a chair and provide a massaging action by moving a singe or several pairs of rollers up and down the patient's back while the patient is sitting in the chair. In addition to being complex and not portable, these devices do not allow for the change in the direction of a massaging action or the change in the force applied to various parts of the back.
Another version of the chair attachment is suggested in the U.S. Pat. No. 5,018,511 by Yokoi. Elongated plate members having massaging protrusions with optional leaf springs are described in this U.S. patent as the basis of the massaging apparatus. Reciprocating movements of the plate members cause high frequency vibrational massage to be applied to the patient's back or other portions of the body held against the apparatus. This apparatus does not have provisions for a deep long stroke massage of the patient's back wherein the massaging protrusions can move slowly along a substantial portion of the skin rather then frequently hitting a limited area of the skin. In addition, this device is quite large and can not be easily folded for storage.
Several bed-type back massaging devices are described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,078,125 by Schumacher, U.S. Pat. No. 4,984,568 by Persaud, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,875,470 by Cotone. These devices generally comprise a massaging robotic arm attached to a driving apparatus which in turn is located in the vicinity of the patient's bed. Although allowing for various useful long stroke massaging motions, these devices are extremely complex and have to be permanently attached to the vicinity of the patient's bed.
The need therefore exists for a simple massaging apparatus with a massaging element allowing for a long stroke deep skin massage especially over the patient's back. Such apparatus should allow the patient to administer massage onto himself easily and, at the same time, the massager should be both foldable and portable so as to allow the use in various circumstances, such as at home, in a car or a truck, in a hospital, in a gym, and alike.